Green Advocacy Ghana in conjunction with executives of the Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association (GASDA) organized a one-day forum for members of GASDA for its upcoming ‘Agbogbloshie Transformation Project’ (ATP) on the 27th February 2014 at the Agbogbloshie E-Scrap yard in Accra.

The event which was attended by about 108 persons began with a welcome note delivered by the GASDA Secretary, Mr Mohammed Alihu, who welcomed the participants and briefed them about the upcoming project, its likely benefits and how various stakeholders such as Greenad under the auspices of Blacksmith Institute, New York are working tirelessly to ensure its success.

Thereafter the National Youth Authority (NYA), represented by its Director of Technical Project/Procurement, Mr E Anaman-Mensah addressed the participants. On his part, he expressed concern about the current wanton dumping of refuse and burning at the site which he described as unacceptable and needed to stop. He also reiterated the NYA’s commitment to ensuring youth development through training and therefore pledged their unflinching support for the project.

Executive Director of Green Advocacy, Mr Yaw Amoyaw-Osei set the programme/discussion in motion by outlining the goals/objectives and structure of the project. Specifically, he explained what the larger ‘Agbogbloshie Transformation Project’ was about, the role of various stakeholders, the main phases of the project, the benefits that the project is likely to yield, the changes that will be occurring at the site in due course, discussion and adoption of an appropriate business model, and the formation and registration of cooperatives.

This was followed by a question and answer session. The session afforded participants/scrap dealers the opportunity to seek clarification on all aspects of the project that they had issues and needed details with.